Hüseyin Saygun

Hüseyin Saygun — Biography

Hüseyin Saygun was a footballer and coach known for his hard marking in the Beşiktaş generation that ran from the 1930s to the 1950s, nicknamed "Çengel Hüseyin" ("Hüseyin the Hook"). The nickname comes from the way, as a defender, he stopped the attacker running at him like a hook. Towards the end of his career he captained Beşiktaş, and in 1959, after Remondini left the team, he took over as the club's head coach.

Raised in Istanbul's Kadırga district, Saygun played for a while at Kurtuluş before joining Beşiktaş in 1936 and wearing the black-and-white shirt until 1947. He spent 1947-48 at Vefa, returned to Beşiktaş a year later and finished his career there. In a defence he formed with Eşref, Ali İhsan and Nusret he stood out for his work down the left flank and his marking; he also directed play in midfield and scored four goals each in the Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray derbies. Beşiktaş, with players such as Şükrü Gülesin, Şevket Yorulmaz, Hakkı Yeten, Şeref Görkey, Hüsnü Savman, Eşref Bilgiç and İbrahim Tusder, won eleven Istanbul championships between 1938 and 1952, five of them in a row.

He was capped 13 times for Turkey, took part in the men's football tournament at the 1948 London Olympics and was in the national squad that finished second in the 1949 Mediterranean Cup. He was named to the Silver Team in Beşiktaş's Squads of the Century. He died in Istanbul in March 1993.